The Night Before Christmas
by Gaara's Plaything
Summary: Based on the poem. Naruto and his friends wake one Christmas night to discover the magic of Christmas.


**It's nearly Christmas! Just over an hour for me, so it's technically still Christmas Eve, and this is when I wanted to post this. I almost forgot it, too, and I'd turned everything off! But luckily I remembered in time, so here you go!**

**When I wrote this, it actually came out pretty quickly, which was a bit of a pain, since I was stuck on everything else I was writing! But that doesn't matter, and I hope you enjoy this!**

**I don't own Naruto or the 'Night Before Christmas' poem.**

_**The Night Before Christmas**_

'_Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house_

_Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse._

_The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,_

_In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there._

It was a special occasion, all of them together in one place. The whole gang was here, teams seven, eight and ten, along with team Gai, the sand sibs and the honorary team seven member. The only ones really missing were their sensei's but that was just because those baka's had decided that they were definitely too old for this kind of gathering. Their loss. Right now, all of them were sleeping, even the former and current insomniacs (the latter ones were from overdoing it at work or on missions.)

The fire that had been crackling in the fireplace only half an hour ago was already out, the ash only ever so slightly warm. Naruto had insisted that it be put out so that Santa wouldn't burn his 'fat red ass', as he put it, when he came down the chimney. The others had all laughed at the comment, and Sakura had whacked him over the head, accompanying it with an acerbic, 'You baka, you're too old to believe in Santa Claus!' Nonetheless, that hadn't stopped everyone from hanging up empty stockings with the expectation that they would be full come morning.

_The children were nestled all snug in their beds,_

_While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads._

_And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,_

_Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap._

At this point, one person had decided to drift out of slumber land, rubbing their eyes automatically as they wearily looked around to figure out where they were. It was Naruto, and he wasn't too happy that he'd woken up. He'd been having such a wonderful dream about discussing ramen with an old, white haired man, and it _wasn't _ero-sannin. Blearily he looked around, taking note of the fact that there were three others crammed into the room as well, and _they _were all asleep still.

Naruto sat up, yawned, then gave a snort of laughter when he heard the Sasuke teme mutter, "No, I _don't_ wanna touch you there, Orochimaru."

He _knew_ it, and he was _sooo_ gonna tease the teme in the morning!

_When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,_

_I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter._

_Away to the window I flew like a flash,_

_Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash._

A loud clatter of bells and the sound of something perhaps crashing, had Naruto jumping up and into a fighting stance. The others in the room, Sasuke, Shikamaru and Kiba, also woke with a start, and all four of them looked at each other intensely. Naruto bolted to the window, throwing it open and looking out to see what had made that noise. When he saw what it was, he gasped.

"What is it, dobe?" Sasuke asked in a hushed whisper.

_The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow_

_Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below._

_When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,_

_But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer._

Kiba had followed Naruto to the window, and his reaction to the sight was to utter, "Huh."

"What is it?" Sasuke repeated.

Shikamaru sighed. "Instead of asking, why don't we just go see for ourselves?" he suggested, and the two of them did.

When they saw what it was, they understood a little. After all, what kind of reaction was really expected when you looked out of a window and saw a sleigh being drawn by eight reindeer at night just before Christmas Day? This was supposed to be impossible. After years of going on about this very thing, their parents had either 'come clean' and admitted that they were making Santa up, or they'd figured it out themselves. But this was different, because this was _real_.

_With a little old driver, so lively and quick,_

_I knew in a moment it must be St Nick._

_More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,_

_And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!_

"You've got to be kidding me!" Sasuke whispered harshly. "It's probably some gennin or chuunin playing a trick!"

"Why not a jounin?" Kiba asked.

"Because _we're_ jounin, and we just don't _do_ this sort of thing!" the Uchiha snapped.

"Delusions of grandeur," Shikamaru muttered. "I should've known."

"Shut up, you temes!" Naruto hissed. "He's doing something!"

"_Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!_

_On, Comet! On, Cupid! on Donner and Blitzen!_

_To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!_

_Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"_

"_Holy mother of Kami!_" four jounin's exclaimed as the sleigh took to the air.

They stood there, gaping mouths that would have attracted flies if it had been day time. Naruto was the first one to snap out of it, a devilish grin creeping across his face.

"I_ knew_ there was a Santa!" he chuckled evilly, almost sounding like Gaara had back in the day. (And still did sometimes, to be honest.)

"Impossible, impossible," Sasuke kept muttering under his breath.

"Well, at least we know it's not a ninja," Shikamaru stated. "Shinobi can't fly."

"Oh yeah?" Kiba challenged. "Gaara can, kind of, and Madara did as well! And what about that other Akatsuki guy Naruto'd fought that time? Y'know, the one with the clay?"

"First off," Sasuke snapped, "Madara _didn't_ really fly! It was a genjutsu! Second, that Deidara guy is dead! And third, Gaara _floats_ on his _sand_, he doesn't fly!"

"Besides," Shikamaru put in after he'd finished a yawn, "I doubt that any of those guys would be caught dead dressing up as Santa."

He had a point.

_As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,_

_When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky._

_So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,_

_With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too._

The four of them simply watched as the mysterious Santa continued going from house to house, delivering presents. The sack on his back never changed in size though, and Naruto was figuring that it was magic, while the others more sensibly, or so they considered, figured it must be a jutsu or something. Still, they were riveted to what he was doing, and couldn't look away.

At least, not until the sleigh headed in their direction.

_And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof_

_The prancing and pawing of each little hoof._

_As I drew in my head, and was turning around,_

_Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound._

"He's on the roof!" Naruto hissed.

"Does that mean he'll be coming down _our_ chimney next?" Kiba asked.

The four of them stumbled out of the room, colliding with three others who'd obviously also been woken by the noise. "Hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said. "I told you Santa was real!"

Sakura whacked him hard in the head. "Shut up, you baka!" she hissed. "He'll hear you, and then we won't get to see him!"

Kiba looked at the three kunoichi in front of them. "Where's Temari and Tenten?" he asked.

Ino snorted. "Still asleep," she told them. "Only Tenten even stirred, can you believe it?! And that's despite the fact that she took those sleeping pills! But Temari didn't even react! And I always thought she was a good kunoichi!"

"Shut up, guys!" Naruto hissed. "_He's_ probably coming down the chimney now!"

The seven of them quickly but quietly headed downstairs to the living room just in time to see someone come tumbling down the chimney.

_He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,_

_And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot._

_A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,_

_And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack._

"This is the best moment of my life!" Naruto whispered, anime tears falling down his face.

"Shh!" Sakura hissed. "He'll hear us!"

_He_ was currently dusting himself off, the furs of his holly red robes covered in the ash and soot that was all through the chimney. "We really should have cleaned that thing out, you guys," Hinata said softly.

And yet the soot didn't seem to bother good old Saint Nick, and he turned, the hiding ninja at last getting a good look at him.

_His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!_

_His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!_

_His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,_

_And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow._

"He looks just like that poem," Ino whispered. "You know, 'The Night Before Christmas.'"

It was true, it was all there. The twinkling eyes, the dimples, the cheeks. His nose really did look like a cherry, and his beard was so white, it was like new fallen snow. They all looked on in awe; even Sasuke was impressed, though there was no way he was ever going to let on.

Sakura frowned though. "Why is it that people like that _he's_ got a cherry nose, but _I_ got picked on for my cherry hair?"

Ino shrugged. "Luck of the draw, Forehead," she said, ignoring her best friend's glare.

_The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,_

_And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath._

_He had a broad face and a little round belly,_

_That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!_

The big guy in front of them pulled out a pipe and took a long 'inhale', the smoke coming up to circle his head like a wreath of holly. He let out a long sigh, then laughed, his belly shaking like jelly. The onlookers watched, hypnotised by the movements.

"It's like a lava lamp," Naruto muttered, and Sakura whacked him upside his head.

"How the hell is it like a lava lamp?" she demanded in a whisper.

"That's easy," Shikamaru said. "With both of them, you just can't seem to look away."

No one was denying _that._

_He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,_

_And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!_

_A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,_

_Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread._

Suddenly Naruto started giggling. "He looks silly!" he chuckled, and the rest of them smiled as well.

Hinata gasped, and the others stared at her, wondering why. She was staring at Santa, and the others looked at him as well. He turned his head towards them and winked. He knew they were there!

"Uh oh," Ino muttered, but she really didn't need to worry.

_He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,_

_And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk._

_And laying his finger aside of his nose,_

_And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!_

Dear old Father Christmas turned away, going back to his work of filling up the stockings with presents. Naruto looked at the others smugly, but they ignored him in favour of watching the old man by the fireplace. As soon as he'd finished, Santa turned and ate the cookies and drank the milk that Hinata had put out after Naruto had begged her to. Then with a tap on his nose, the big guy had disappeared up the chimney.

There was a clatter on the roof, the jingling of bells, and then the dumbstruck shinobi found the energy to run for the window.

_He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,_

_And away they all flew like the down of a thistle._

_But I heard him exclaim, 'ere he drove out of sight,_

"_Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"_

They all watched as the sleigh took off into the night sky, still not quite believing what had happened as jolly laughter floated back to them and the words, _"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"_

There was silence for awhile, then Naruto grinned and said, "The others guys are not going to believe this!"

**So there you go! I hoped you liked it and will review! Merry Christmas everyone!**


End file.
